Preselected gear ratio transmissions or dual input transmissions, as they are commonly called, have two input clutches selectively connecting separate drive paths between a transmission input and a transmission output. Each of these drive paths has a number of preselectable gear ratios such that when the respective input clutch is disconnected, the on-coming gear ratio can be selected within that drive path. The drive paths are interchanged by dropping the input clutches. The number of gear ratios available with a given set of gear meshes can be increased by employing a splitter gearset, which is commonly a planetary gearset connected between the ratio gears and the transmission output.
Present transmissions using output splitters employ two friction devices to engage and disengage the splitter ratios. However, the use of an output splitter prevents power shifting of the speed ratios when the splitter is being employed unless additional control clutches are added to the transmission.